Tag variation is a type of soccer drill which helps train players in the art of dribbling. Young players are usually made to practice through this drill. Specifically, players ranging in age from 6 to 8 years old.
This drill can either involve dribbling with a soccer ball or could start with no soccer balls initially and later can be progressed to dribbling with soccer ball.
The setup of this grid involves creating a 20 yard by 40 yard grid. Initially, the beginning of the game starts with one player in the centre of the grid holding a soccer ball in his or her armpit. This person is considered to be “it”. As for the rest of the players in the game, they line up on one end of the grid with a soccer ball placed at their feet. The objective of this game is that on hearing the coaches whistle, the players are supposed to or instructed to dribble from one end of the grid to the other without being tagged by the player who is “it”. If during the game, some other player is tagged by “it”, they also become “it”. The dribblers stop when they are able to make their way to the other end of the grid. In the beginning of the game, it is 10 dribblers to one “tagger” ratio. In the follow up games, there may be a change in the ratio and there might be three taggers to 7 dribblers. As the game keeps on progressing, eventually the taggers outnumber the dribblers in the game. And this way the level of difficulty in the game increases.
A coaching point in this game is that the players should learn to and practice to keep their heads up at all times while dribbling in order to avoid the player who is “it”. This helps players learn the art of multitasking.